The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

This book has grasped my interest from the first page. I always wondered about slaves lives after freedom. I got a glimpse of this material while reading the WPA narratives, but The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gains is written in much more depth.
The part of this book that particularly grabbed my attention was the massacre chapter. I couldn’t imagine witnessing that at the age of 21 let alone 12. I can’t believe how mature Jane seems to be at such a young age. She just takes Ned in under her wing after his mother was killed, and takes care of him. I can’t begin to fathom how Jane was able to whiteness such a bloody and terrible massacre and not even shed a tear. For her to stay quiet and still in the bushes while listening to people beg for their lives is simply impressive.
Another inspiring factor about this book so far is Jane’s sense of determination. No matter how many people, black or white, tell her to return to where she comes from. No matter what people said to her she was determined to reach Mr. Brown in Ohio. I believe she is so determined to get to Ohio because Mr. Brown was the only one Jane knows that was nice to her. No matter what the reasoning is behind her determination, it is impressive that such a young girl stay so strong.